In a shocking incident, a group of Benidorm-bound travellers were left behind by their Jet2 flight from Manchester Airport, despite having passed through the boarding gate. Marie Casey, 63, from Failsworth, Greater Manchester, and around 30 other passengers found themselves trapped in a dead-end stairwell after the plane had already departed, leaving them “exhausted, stressed and anxious.”
The Jet2 flight to Alicante took off at 7 am on Monday, 19th January, without the group of 31 passengers. Marie, who was travelling with her friend Jill Bowles, 69, said the “trauma” of the situation “spoilt the holiday before it started.”
“We were all kind of disgusted,” Marie told BBC Manchester. “How can the plane go without us? You couldn’t write it.”
According to Marie, after passing through the boarding gate, there was no one to guide the group to the plane, and no cordon in place. The passengers ended up in a dead-end stairwell, where they were left stranded for “at least two hours.”
“It was packed in that stairway, no food, water or a toilet,” Marie added. “Fortunately, I was near the bottom steps so I could sit down. But most people had absolutely nowhere to sit down.”
The group was eventually discovered by a groundworker, who raised the alarm. Jet2 later apologised and arranged alternative flights for the stranded passengers, but Marie said the compensation offered, a £100 voucher each, was “an absolute insult.”
“We should be reimbursed the price of the full holiday, as well as the out-of-pocket money we had to spend all that time in the airport,” she said.
Jet2 confirmed that a cordon which was meant to be in place had been removed, but declined to comment on how the aircraft staff had not noticed the missing passengers or what other compensation offers had been made.
The incident has left the affected holidaymakers “exhausted” and unable to fully enjoy the start of their much-anticipated Benidorm getaway.
